A Time to Heal & A Time to Love
by DiNozzo and Gibbs addict
Summary: When Liberty comes to Bull with a very difficult case will he be able to help the victim to heal and live her life again? And will he also be able to help those investigating the real perpetrators of the crimes and bring them to justice? *Warning* does contain to references of rape.


**A Time to Heal & A Time to Love.**

 **Chapter 1.**

As Bull got into TAC that morning it was to be met by Marissa telling him that Liberty had been in looking for him, but she couldn't wait for him to in because she was due in court. So with that he said that he would head down there to find out what she wanted.

At the court Bull had to just slip in at the back because the judge was just dismissing the jury for them to go and consider their verdict on that particular case. Because she'd sensed that someone had walked into the back of the court Liberty turned and noticed that Bull had taken a seat at the back, she acknowledged him with a slight nod of her head which he returned. After there jury was dismissed the judge then cleared the court room telling those that were involved with the case to stay close in case they came back with a verdict.

Because of having to stay close to the court Bull took Liberty to a nearby café for a coffee, after getting the coffees and finding them a quiet corner that they could sit in and as they sat down he said "So what were you looking for me for?"

She looked at him and answered "I really need your help with a client Bull."

"What can I do?"

She answers once again "The police just seem to be really after my client Sara, despite not having any evidence against her."

He says "And what are they after her for?"

She replies "She's being blamed for the murder of her ex. But on the night that it happened she was in hospital after he'd already beaten her up. So not only was her mom and sister with her in the hospital as well as her best friend, she also had doctors and nurses constantly in her room as well."

He then says "Ok get everything to me about the case and bring her in to see me."

She touches his arm and says "I can get everything to you ok, but there may be a problem with getting her in."

"Why?"

She answers "With what happened to her that night, then her mom, sister and best friend taking her home afterwards. It seems that the three of them stayed with her so that she wasn't left alone. But now because of them doing it, it seems that she's now developed acrophobia and she now can't leave the house."

"So I'm guessing that you're scared for her?"

She answers with a sigh "I am because if they do attempt to arrest her they'll end up dragging her out kicking and screaming, which will do god knows what to her mental health. Not only that I have a feeling that she may be hiding something and you're the only one that I know that will be able to see it."

"What do you think it might be?"

She sighs and says "As far as I know nothing else has been reported other than what is on record about her attack, but I'm wondering if he did something more than just beating her up."

He turns serious and just asks a little bit quieter in case of someone overhearing "You mean either an assault or something worse?"

She says just as quietly "I have a feeling that it could be at its worse. Not only that I get the impression that there may also be something else going on there too. Because I don't know, it just seems to feel like the three of them are standing guard over her to stop her saying something. I have also done some digging around and I do know that social services have been involved with the family in the past, but what it was about I don't have a clue."

He says with a serious smirk "Ok I'll take this on, so send me all that you can. As soon as you can set something up I'll come and meet her with you, so that I can get a read on things."

Liberty replies "I'll call the office and get them to send you the files, the rest of it I'll bring to you when I can. The same will be for getting a meeting set up because of waiting for this case to end."

He says "That's ok. But also in the meantime if the police do make a move to make an attempt to arrest her let me know as soon as possible, because I promise that I will do what I can to help her."

As Bull then gets up and puts his coat back on to leave Liberty looks at him and smiles as she says "Thanks Bull."

Just before he leaves he says to her "Anytime."

Later on when the files arrived at TAC along with Liberty's own notes and files, on top of them she'd also written a hastily written note to Bull saying that the jury hadn't reached a verdict so she would be in court once again the next day, but she would get the meeting with Sara set up and would join them as soon as she could. As Bull starts to look through everything he also finds that he starts to get more questions than answers with it all. Not only that from reading the medical report from the night of the attack and the extent of Sara's injuries. He knows that there was no way that she would have had the strength to have gotten out of the hospital bed let alone be able to have inflicted the injuries on her ex that were in his autopsy report. He can't work out why but he all of a sudden starts getting a feeling that it may have actually been her mom and sister that may have actually murdered him and the police were probably going after Sara because of suspecting that she knew what they were going to do to him. Especially with what Liberty had told him about them staying close to her and also what the other reports were saying about them. So he starts to think that even though they may not have let her in to what they were going to do, they were sticking close just in case she may say something offhanded that might get them into trouble without her realizing it. He also finds himself wondering if the two of them may have done something along the lines of murdering someone before and if they would be able to find a connection to that. After getting himself caught up with most of the case he then gets everyone together and tells them about the case. He also gets Marissa to do some digging on Sara's ex Peter James Ellis, as well as getting Cable to look into his electronic trail, as well as doing the same for her family as well. With Danny he gets her to look into the criminal backgrounds for all of them, as well as asking her to put the feelers out over what the police is doing in the case and to alert them to any possible moves they might make towards arresting Sara. For Benny he asks him if he can be Liberty's back up if things do come down to them going to court. He also asks him if he can do some digging around with social services, as he may get something with being a lawyer. But he's not really sure if he'll be able to do it or not because of Liberty having already been stonewalled by them over it. After leaving them to it he tells them that he's going out because he needs to go and see someone.

As he travelled to see the person that he wanted to see and even though he already knew that he would most probably be paying her back in baked goods for a few months to come, the person that he was going to be seeing was Amy. As soon as he walked in and she saw the worried look on his face, she sighs just before saying to him "How can I help you Jason?"

He then answers her "I'm still getting things together at the moment, because this case has only just come into us, but I think that I may need some help."

She asks "Ok what is it?"

He answers "I've not met my new client yet. But she was attacked by her ex-boyfriend. He's now been murdered and even though she was in hospital at the time of the murder, the police are thinking that she did it or that she was somehow involved in it. Not only that after her return home from hospital it seems that she may have become acrophobic and she can't leave the house. I'm worried about what may happen to her if they do end up trying to drag her off under arrest, as well as of course wanting to know how to go about handling everything with her."

Amy says "Well if you want it I can register her here in the private centre under private care. That way she will be protected if they do make any attempt to arrest her as she'll be here under mental health grounds. Not only that when she is finally able to make it so she can get out of the house, she can then come into the centre for treatment. When you finally get to see her I'm sending the assessment with you because you will be able to do that part of things for her, once you've done that we'll take things from there. Because of you being the one that will be with her the most, you are most probably going to be the one that gives her the most support. So it may be for the best if you and I work together on this. Once you've got the assessment done we can then work out the best treatment programme for her and I will also get there to talk to her as well. The main thing is for now, is to not force her to go outside or to do anything that she can't face doing. But if she feels that she wants to attempt a step outside or even if she just wants to stand in a doorway allow her to do just that. The main thing to loo out for is of course the sense of panic starting to build up inside her. Plus of course if the family are around her constantly they may either be supporting her or on the other hand might be in her ear saying things along the lines of stop being so stupid you can get outside, nothing out there is going to hurt you or even trying to force her to go out. So just be there to counteract anything that they are saying along those lines."

He says "Ok I can do that. The other thing is and I don't want her in any way to find it out, but I will pay for her treatment and anything else that comes up."

She asks "Why Jason when you haven't even met her yet?"

He answers "Because just from reading up one her I get the impression that she's has been let down for all of her life, and I don't know I just have a feeling that her mom and sister have got some kind of hold on her. I don't know what it could be, but we do know that social services were involved with the family when she was a child. I've left Benny trying to get hold of the records, but I'm not holding out much hope on that because her own lawyer couldn't get access to them either."

She then says "Well if the worst does come to the worst and you don't get anywhere with it let me know. Because we do need to get her history especially with her mom and sister's behaviour towards her at the moment and we will need a way to get through to her somehow. So if they won't give you access if me and Benny are behind the request together, it may just make things a lot easier."

"Ok thanks I'll let you know how it goes."

She says "Just promise me Jason that you're not getting to close with this one."

He replies "I promise that I won't. I just think that it's just going to be one of those cases where it's probably going to get hard. But I'm determined to get her some justice and hopefully get her well again so that she can live the life that she truly wants to live."

She sighs and says "Well I suppose that id things do start getting stressful for you I might be lucky and bare the fruits of your labour."

He says with a smile and chuckle "That you might." After a pause he then adds "Look I'd better go and I can get to see if Benny has got anywhere with things while I've been gone."

As he gets up to go she touches his arm and says "Even if we're working on this together and you feel that you do need to talk about things, just shout and I will be here for you."

He says "I know that you will be and thanks." She then hands him the file that has the assessment in it and he leaves."

By the time Bull gets back to TAC once again, Benny has really scored gold with all the files that he's been able to get hold of. As soon as he sees Bull arrive and before he has the chance of looking through things, Benny gets him to go into his off ice so that they can talk in private. Once he's closed the door Bull says as he takes a seat "What is it Benny?"

Benny answers "I've managed to get to talk to a few of my contacts as I got the files, it seems that when you manage to get round there to see her you're going to have to find a way of loosing her mom and sister. As well as my contacts I have also been speaking to an FBI agent Jarred Stewart and it seems that the FBI have been after the two of them for years, he's also told me that he's happy to also help us in any way that he can if we need it, especially as he and Sara have also got a bit of a past together as they were at school and college together. He's on the case for the two cases they have going on them, and he's also been doing his best to keep the cops at bay from her with the murder case. They know that her mom Caroline and sister Danielle are involved in some pretty shady stuff and are very close thanks to Caroline having custody of her when she and their dad Ian were divorced, it was Ian that got custody of Sara. That was until Ian was murdered and Sara then went back to them again, the main suspects for the murder are Caroline and Danielle. From what the FBI have also seen with Peter's murder they suspect they also did that as well, because some of the things that were done and have been found were the same as with Ian's murder. When Sara was with Ian she wanted to be a lawyer and did get her law degree, but she never took the bar. Jarred saw the change in her while they were at school following Ian's murder, how she went from being quite outgoing to very introverted. When she was doing her law degree and he first got onto the team investigating Caroline and Danielle he said that he could really see the change coming in her after she'd met Peter, as she was looking happier again, becoming more outgoing again and more independent. He also understands about her having acrophobia because his mom also had it, but he also thinks that the two of them are making things worse for her with whatever it is they're holding over her. Especially as he's also seen them trying to force her to go outside and she then subsequently having a major panic attack before they drag her back indoors again. He also admits that he hates thinking along those lines, but he's suspicious about what they're actually doing to her and if it's possible that they may be attempting to get her broken down, so that if they then have an attempt to murder her or try to make it look like she's committed suicide, they've done it enough so she can't fight back. Plus when the cops were doing the initial interviews with her the two of them are constantly hovering by her side and are watching what she says closely. He was the one that managed to hire Liberty for her because the two of them did their law degree together, and so far Liberty has been the only person that they've actually left her alone with, but that was because Liberty has said that she's just there to see her friend and not that she's there as her lawyer."

As Bull gets up to leave he says "Ok I'm going to have a look through some of these files before I call it a night. I may see if I can call and have a talk with Jarred tomorrow."

In the end it ends up being another couple of days before Liberty has done with her current case and is able to join them at TAC. Luckily the team have managed to dig up quite a lot about the family, even without having gone anywhere near them yet and also thanks to Bulls conversation with Jarred as well. By the time he'd got through some of the files and what Jarred had told him, Bull was also suspecting that Caroline and Danielle had murdered both Ian and Peter. Plus they also knew that they'd got Jarred as a good ally if they needed to use him in any way, because he hadn't been involved in any way with the FBI speaking to the two of them and also hadn't been around to get seen by either of them. Plus when he and Sara had last seen each other as far as she was concerned he was going to be going into business with his father, and she hadn't got a clue that he'd gone into the FBI and was an agent. So with finally getting Liberty on the case they made the call and managed to make a date for their first meeting with them a couple of days later.

At that first meeting once again they managed to convince Caroline and Danielle that Liberty was just there as a friend to visit Sara, but Bull was also surprised that Sara also had enough courage to play along and say that he'd been a friend of theirs as well. Like Liberty's first meeting with Sara after getting them a drink Caroline just disappeared off leaving them to it, although while she did get them a drink she did make sure that she left Danielle in the room and Bull could quite easily see the way that she did monitor their conversation very closely, so he breathed a sigh of relief when Caroline told her to leave them alone. Although even though they were left alone Caroline kept coming in every ten minutes on the dot to check on them, but again he was surprised when Sara stood up for herself and told her to leave them alone. As he knew that she was only doing it to keep them monitored still. What did still come as a shock to him though was how bad the attack on Sara had been, despite him having read about it in the files they'd got as well as seeing the photo's of all her injuries as well. But even seeing the bruises that were on her face but now starting to fade made him feel the hurt at what she'd been through. Just from watching and talking to her though he could really see that there was a really strong woman underneath it all, and that she was really fighting internally to bring that side of herself out and not appear to be weak. He also knew that she was hiding something fully about the attack and he did wonder if she would manage to be open with him about it, especially with him being a man.

In the end the opportunity presented itself after Bull had gone to use the bathroom. With Caroline and Danielle leaving them alone they were still obviously keeping and ear out on things. So with him having to use the bathroom they had thought that their little meeting was over because they'd be leaving soon, and they'd gone back in the room with Sara and Liberty again. He then came back and sat down and they just carried on talking together. After a while things finally got to Sara, so she let out a really big sigh before she said to Caroline and Danielle "If you're not going to leave us alone we're moving out of here." She then got up and indicated for Liberty and Bull to follow her and they went off upstairs, to what Bull guessed was probably her bedroom and study. As they were in what appeared to be her study he guessed her bedroom was behind the closed door in the room, after they got into the room she also locked the door behind them. It was then in that moment that everything came tumbling out, starting from the moment that she went into a panic attack, which of course Bull helped her with and got her calm again. It happened as she opened the door to the balcony to just let some air into the room, as he watched her unlock the door Bull knew that she was having a real battle of wills with herself and knew that she did really want to be out there in the outside world, even if her hands were really shaking. As the panic attack came on he also guessed that his theory of something more happening in the attack was also correct, because of the way she flinched when he first went to touch her, but then slowly allowing it to happen. Once he got her calmed down again he got Liberty to go and get her a drink of water, then when she came back with it she guessed that Sara and Bull wanted some privacy, so she went and stood out on the balcony out of their way. As she was heading out there she also noticed that Sara was at the desk writing quite a few things down. While she was doing it Bull also told her that he would be there for her every single step of the way and that she wasn't alone, as he would be doing everything in his power to help her with everything. When he asked her if she had a phone, she took it out from her hiding place she'd got for it; he took it from her and then programmed the numbers of TAC, his mobile and home number under a code name. He then told her that she could call or text him day or night. He was also going to make sure that he got round to see her regularly as well, even if they had to call on Liberty's services to do it to keep up the pretence of them being old friends. It was with hearing his words that she finally broke down, as he went to hug her, she did once again flinch but in the end she managed to finally melt into him. While they were hugging she then slipped him what she'd written down. Then when they broke apart he looked at it and it was as bad as he thought as to what Peter had done to her. Along with what had happened she'd also written a note giving permission for him to go and get the test results from the hospital, because they'd been done before Caroline and Danielle had got to the hospital. After looking at it he took her into a hug again and after letting her settle into him again, he then said quietly to her "I promise you that I will always be here for you and I will help you every single step of the way." He was then very happy to look down at her and get from her just a tiny little smile from her along with a nod as she finally said quietly back "I do trust you to do this Dr Bull."

 **A/N: Here's a new Bull story from me and for this one I will be exploring some dark material for me, but I do hope that you enjoy it. Most of the dark moments will be happening at the start of this and will hopefully become a bit lighter as Sara starts on her road to recovery. This has also been a real challenge for me to write, so there will also be some appearance of some lighter bits and pieces that I have been writing when I've had to take a break from it! D. xxx.**


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